Feelings on displaying the Confederate flag on your POV or person while on a military installation?

Recently, I had a long and heated discussion with a fellow veteran about this issue. I don't know for sure whether a branch-specific reg or a DoD-wide reg exists that prohibits/allows personnel on a military installation to display the Confederate flag on their personal vehicle or on their person (e.g. a belt buckle). Maybe this is a base-specific policy and left to the judgment of the installation commander. Display of the Confederate flag is a divisive issue and people often feel really strongly one way or the other. But today, it is still a relevant topic and touches on other military leadership/discipline areas, including the actions of one member deeply offending another member -- regardless of whether said action is legal/authorized. That can create huge problems in a military unit, and this happened in a unit I personally served in. So, below are my questions for the RallyPoint community about this issue.

Please try to keep comments professional (don't attack one another) and explain your thoughts as best you can.

Questions:(1) How do you feel about the Confederate flag being displayed on the vehicle/person of a service member if he/she is ON post? How does your opinion change if the member is OFF post?(2) What does the Confederate flag symbolize to you personally? What do you think it can symbolize to other people around you who may perceive it differently?(3) If you have personally experienced a military-related situation where a symbol/flag caused someone to be offended, what happened and what did you/would you have done as the leader?

I look fwd to everyone's thoughts on this. Personally, I have some strong feelings about this issue, though I don't want to bias people's answers upfront. Please be as honest as possible.

Umm all I have to say is that I'm black and I have the Mississippi flag (which has the Confederate flag in it) tattooed on my left arm. It's just a symbol of the south. It doesnt necessarily mean hate. Now the Swastika is a whole different meaning... ban that instead of the Confederate flag.

The Cionfederate flag is and has always been a symbol of armed rebellion against the established order and should be TOTALLY banned except in specific historical contexts. And as much as possible, in such contexts one of the actual National Flags of the Confederacy (there were three) should be used instead of the Battle Flag.(One such context is in the Confederate section of the Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA, where they fly the Third National.)

The swastika (normally with the arms rotating in the opposite direction) has a grand history in many religions. In Buddhism, the swastika is considered to symbolize the auspicious footprints of the Buddha. It is an aniconic symbol for the Buddha in many parts of Asia and homologous with the dharma wheel. The shape symbolizes eternal cycling, a theme found in samsara doctrine of Buddhism.In Hinduism, the symbol with arms pointing clockwise (卐) is called swastika, symbolizing surya ('sun'), prosperity and good luck, while the counterclockwise symbol (卍) is called sauvastika, symbolizing night or tantric aspects of Kali.In America, many Native American tribal cultures used the swastika. The earliest known swastika is from 10,000 BCE found in Mezine, Ukraine. The symbol is found in the archeological remains of the Sintashta culture and Indus Valley Civilization as well as in early Byzantine and Christian artwork.There are numerous other uses throughout history including the Boy Scouts. What is now "The Order of the White Arrow" was originally "The Order of the White Swastika." It was also used as a good luck charm and a badge to honor good deeds by scouts and several other uses by different scouting groups.Should we destroy the meaning the swastika has had for thousands of years or do we determine if the use of it by neo-nazi, skin heads is offensive.Back to the Battle Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia. Black activists have said it is an anti-black symbol denoting slavery. If this is so, why have I seen many Blacks, as well as whites, displaying the flag itself, or its representation on tattoos, car decals, and clothing. Again, it all comes down to the purpose behind the display. Is the person just denoting a symbol of Southern Pride or are they promoting slavery. Slavery was not the only issue that was behind the Civil War. Lincoln did not submit the Emancipation Proclamation for two years and was, for a good part of the war, going to allow slavery to remain if the states that seceded returned to the Union.I personally do not like the hyphen as part of a description of a persons ethnicity. African-American, Mexican-American, Italian-American are all terms I despise. We should just be Americans. John Wayne had a great speech on the Hyphen, look it up on You Tube.We need to stop putting your personal views on an object and look at the person instead. If they are a bigoted, neo-Nazi, racist, anti-semite, treat them as such. If they are just proud of their heritage, accept them as such.

1. My opinion regarding the Confederate flag remains the same whether a servicemember is on or off post.

2. To me, the Confederate flag symbolizes home. It's a symbol of comfort because it reminds me of the culture and traditions I share with the people from the Deep South. It also represents people who were willing to lose it all to defend their state's rights.

To others, I believe the flag can represent racism, disloyalty to the USA and/or a country torn apart from this inside. I know where I'm from, there are many who still "smell the powder burning".

3. Yes I have been in this situation before however it was with the Texas State flag. I had a little flag in my "cellar" in Afghanistan and people would pick it up and talk smack. I was extremely offended by it and I expressed my feelings in the most Christian way possible but I left it at that. Excluding the Bible or cross, if I had a symbol that offended someone, I would take it down. It would definitely be hard to swallow my pride but for me personally, I subject myself to the Bible regulations and that means if it isn't promoting Christ then it's not a battle worth fighting. No I'm not holier than thou or anything but I do try to follow Jesus' example.

However as a leader I would not expect the same from my soldiers because they may not hold themselves accountable to the Bible. The way I would handle it would be a case-by-case basis, however I would try to ensure my decision reflected my two basic responsibilities: accomplish the mission and take care of my soldiers.

Sgt Richard Sprague - Sergeant Sprague, slavery existed on the African continent for centuries before the New World was colonized, and in the New World, the slave markets opened in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies years before those in the US. I'm not trying to excuse the US, but they were a relative late-comer to he game.

Arguing that people shouldn't judge you or assume things based on these displays is utter crap: if that's the case, why are you displaying it?

If you understand nothing else out of this entire thread, understand that people have extremely strong opinions about this issue, for and against. Every day you are judged by people before you speak based on how you look, how you are dressed, how tall you are..., etc. If you feel that you are in a position where making the best possible first impression is irrelevant for you, by all means, plaster your vehicle with your flags (confederate, rainbow, TX, Cuban, or otherwise), symbols (peace, hammer and sickle, Calvin peeing on a Chevy, whatever), and various sexual/political/hometown slogans. Wear your gang's bandanna, your football team's belt buckle, I don't care. But know that you are screaming information about yourself to everyone who sees it. Information that you may never have an opportunity to correct. You can puff yourself up and proclaim that the problem is them and not you but it will absolutely not change that first impression.

Look, I get that for you personally, it might mean something else. A great example is that someone might have an OIF veteran license plate, but that in no way means he/she supported the Iraq war on an ideological level or votes republican, but those are all things a viewer might assume. If you don't care that people will assume that, get the plate. If you do, you have to think about that fact before deciding to broadcast that information.

If you read my other posts on lots of topics, you know that I am against the idea of banning things. To ban something is to give it power. If you don't like it, ignore it. But on the other side, drop the argument that you mean something different when you fly the flag. That would be like saying I have a Miami Dolphins sticker on my car because I'm from Miami, not because I like that team. That might be 100% true, but that's not the impression my sticker gives the the majority of people viewing it. I can dislike that or disagree, but I can't try to say all of those people are wrong for making a perfectly valid assumption. Pointing out that there is different historical information doesn't take away from the umpteen interactions I have personally had with bigoted people using this exact symbol. You need to give those people your information and tell them to stop using this symbol if it means so much to you. You are arguing with the wrong individuals.

There is a house down the street in my middle class neighborhood here in Las Vegas. The Battle Flag of Northern Virginia flies frequently from a pole attached to the garage. What is supposed to be my first impression of the occupants of the house? Are they saying slavery was OK? Or are they showing their presumed Southern Pride? By the way, the family that lives there is black. Does that change what my first impression should have been?I have a biracial daughter, by the way, and I am voicing her views, too. The Black side of her family is from Arkansas and she understands the Southern Pride issue. She understands that it was not the Flag of the Confederacy and does not see it as a slight against Blacks, either.